Net2Phone shares spike after UK launch

MikeTarsala

Net2Phone shares spiked 20 percent on Monday after the company said it will offer its service in the United Kingdom -- the first stop in a worldwide rollout, executives say.

Net2Phone
ntop
will launch similar services in Canada, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan over the next few months.

Net2Phone vs. S&P 500 for past 5 days

"This is the start of services to 20 countries we plan to roll out within the next six months," said David Greenblatt, Net2Phone's chief operating officer. "Since it's a worldwide market, you need worldwide distribution."

The company is planning not only for fast geographic expansion, but for added services in 2000, according to Greenblatt. The company will introduce several new features this year, including voicemail over the Internet, Internet-based paging services and single-number services that can track an individual by phone, pager or e-mail using the same number.

"When we get people into our network, for phone-to-phone, we've brought them into our whole range of services that's unfolding," Greenblatt said.

Net2Phone phone service from computer-to-phone, as well as from phone-to-phone over its Internet-based voice network. The company says it can save its customers about 50 percent on international calls, and offer the same or better quality than traditional phone networks.

The company went public in July, and probably won't turn a profit until 2003, Greenblatt said.

About 40 percent of Net2Phone's customers use its network phone-to-phone, and the rest use home PCs to place calls. Greenblatt says half of Net2Phone's customers are consumers, and the rest are small and mid-size businesses.

The company is in the process of shopping for companies to acquire, according to Greenblatt. Net2Phone is searching for ways to boost its marketing, buy access to customers, and acquire new technologies.

"We're starting now to investigate, so we can look at these kinds of things," Greenblatt said. Shares of Net2Phone rose 9 to 54 15/16.

Analyst pick helps Spyglass jump 34 percent

Internet browser software maker Spyglass
SPYG, +0.62%
added 35 percent after an Internet analyst named the company a top pick for 2000.

Shares closed at 51, up 13 5/64 after independent analyst Steve Harmon called Spyglass one of his top-10 picks. The company has worked recently to make its browsers work with wireless electronics. Spyglass announced in December the formation of an internal group dedicated to wireless software.

The company recently has been making software that works with the WAP standard, or wireless application protocol. With backing from Nokia
NOK, +0.19%
and other high profile companies, WAP hopes to become a uniform way hardware and software makers can work together to build wireless electronics products that work together.

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